Forget starters, think finishers

Bulls fine in 1st quarters but struggle to find way to winning 4th period

November 23, 2012|By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter

At a time when an inability to close games is a big reason the Bulls have dipped below .500, it seems fitting — if also painful — that a Saturday visit to the Bradley Center is on tap.

On the last trip to what sometimes gets called the United Center North when the Bulls invade, Derrick Rose placed an exclamation point on his 30-point, 11-rebound and eight-assist night with a buzzer-beating game-winner to down the Bucks on March 7.

Without Rose, it will be intriguing to see how many Bulls' fans travel north of the border. Just as how the Bulls finish games — both performance- and rotation-wise — remains a mystery.

One thing is sure: The starting lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Richard Hamilton, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah will remain intact. Following the first three-game, regular-season losing streak of his tenure, coach Tom Thibodeau didn't rule out that possibility on Wednesday in Houston.

But after Friday's 135-minute practice at the Berto Center, the topic seemed to surprise Thibodeau.

"Nah, we're fine, we're fine," he said, when asked if changes could happen against the Bucks.

Starting games actually isn't the main issue. Finishing them is.

The Bulls have been ahead at the end of six of 11 first quarters this season and tied another while outscoring their opponents 255-248. But in the fourth quarter, they have outscored their opponent just four times, tied one other and trail 281-263 overall. They have been outscored in the fourth quarter in all four previous games in this trip by a total of 24 points.

"It seems like it's a variety of issues," Hinrich said.

Turnovers, poor defense and average rebounding are the biggest. Thibodeau has been harping on recognizing the different in intensity over the final 12 minutes since the start of training camp. Thus far, his preaching has fallen on deaf ears.

"We were in position to win some of these games and we let them get away," Thibodeau said. "So we have to close out better. It comes back to your attitude and approach.

"Fourth quarters are different than the first three. We have to understand our reads in order, what we're trying to get to. We have to sustain our spacing through second and third options, play to our strengths, know what matchups are going and cover up our weaknesses."

Complicating the problem is that Thibodeau clearly still is searching for the proper closing rotation. Hinrich, Boozer and Hamilton have sat out several fourth quarters as Thibodeau uses his preferred practice of closing games with defensive-oriented lineups.

Hinrich is a better defender than Nate Robinson, but his shooting percentage has hovered near 30 percent all this young season.

"We're confident in Kirk's ability," Thibodeau said. "His defense has been outstanding. Nate at times has been very, very good on offense. We have to be able to close with different people. And everyone has to understand what their job is and get their jobs done."

Hinrich, who is averaging only 5.9 shots per game, admitted he has had trouble finding an offensive rhythm.

"I'm just trying to focus on what I can do all-around and not let it affect my floor game and defense and know some shots eventually are going to go in," he said. "I'm an instinctive player and just need to play."

One player who appears to have solidified an increased rotational role is second-year swingman Jimmy Butler.

"He has done a good job and some of the things he's doing are really what our team needs," Thibodeau said. "He's playing very hard on defense. He's running the floor. He's getting back in defensive transition and challenging shots. He's making multiple efforts."

Now, evidently, the rest of the team needs to do the same in fourth quarters.